Spending 50 years at one job is rare - even more so when the business is mass media.
Family, co-workers, former co-workers, friends and many who know him only by watching him on TV gathered Friday at Madison's Cafe in Jefferson City to thank Dick Preston for his time at KRCG-TV.
Preston started his career in 1968 and has been a reporter, producer and anchor at the station.
After graduating from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and working in Columbia radio, Preston went to KRCG as an announcer and commercial writer, according to his station biography. His experience included filling in on the sports and weather desk and even directing.
After a brief stint with the U.S. Army Reserves, he returned as a reporter and the station's first weekend anchor. Since then, Preston has anchored the news in every available time period and has even anchored all five newscasts in a single day.
"The nervous part for me today was trying to make sure I remembered all the names of everybody who came out," Preston laughed Friday.
Preston currently co-anchors KRCG 13 Live at Sunrise and anchors and produces KRCG 13 Live at Noon. He said he just signed a contract to work another year; although he'll be 73, he's not sure when he will retire.
"I think just having a familiar face every day - there's a continuity to your life when you see the same person every morning," Preston said. "Working with these young people keeps me going. They change over every few years, so they haven't heard all my jokes."